Animal Crossing is such a great game. I have fond memories of the original Animal Crossing on the Game Cube. It was fresh, funny, and oddly addictive. Being able to see the game world change in time with real world seasons was impressive. I loved the depth of the game, and while in college I found a friend who also played the game. We could then visit each other’s villages and …

As a Gamer for over 30 years, I have often heard critics of video games dismiss the hobby as a waste of time.

Wait, more like a “HUGE waste of time.”

This became even more obvious once I graduated college and started working in a professional role. I felt like I had to keep the fact that I enjoyed video games a secret. I thought to myself, “Sure it’s okay to play …

We don’t get to choose how we start in the life. Real ‘greatness’ is what you do with the hand you’re dealt.

– Victor Sullivan aka Sully, Uncharted 3

Disbelief. Skepticism.

Those are the typical responses I find when I make the point that video games teach personal accountability. To be honest, I did not really understand this until I learned about John G. Miller, and his QBQ! Question Behind the Question (Listen to my interview with him HERE).

This quote from Sully in Uncharted 3 captures the basis for just about every video game and how personal accountability fits in.

Video games often involve the hero of the story starting out with nothing, at level one; or if you do have items or skills, they are selected by the game designer. In some cases, like Castlevania: SOTN or Metroid Prime, you start out with power ups, only to quickly lose them.

At this point you could give up, sell the game, throw your controller across the room, and swear off video games all together.

Steve Kamb is the founder of NerdFitness.com, a worldwide fitness community dedicated to helping nerds, desk jockeys, and self-aware robots level up their lives. He’s also the author of the upcoming book, Level Up Your Life, that gives people a blueprint for prioritizing adventure, growth, and happiness by turning a life into a giant video game. While running his company from a coconut laptop, Steve has adventured all over the world, explored the ruins of Machu Picchu, dived with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef, and lived like James Bond in Monte Carlo. He has guest lectured at Google, Google Dublin, Facebook, TEDxEmory, and regularly speaks at Vanderbilt University.

The story follows quite a dramatic arc, filled with fun and adventure, but some very terrible things happen in the course of the game. Tales of love that was lost, depression, powerlessness, separation, and even the near destruction of the world.

But at it’s heart, Final Fantasy VI is about hope. About finding meaning in the face of extreme adversity. About finding your purpose and living life with intention.

Maybe you are feeling a bit lost or hopeless. Edgar’s quote gives us a hint for how to get back on track:

First things first.

When life feels overwhelming or we have a hard time finding hope, focus on what you can do, right in front of you. Make sure you eat well, sleep well, and spend time with those you love.

Don’t worry about every detail, but focus on the one thing you can do right now to make your situation a little better. Take action each day, even if what you can do seems small or insignificant, it adds up.

Seeing results will give you hope. But even if you cannot see results right away, don’t give up. If video games can teach us anything, it’s the ability to persist in the face of challenge – and overcome.

You got this.

– Jon

ClassicallyTrained.net is your site for life & leadership lessons from classic video games, articles, and motivational video game quotes to help you keep leveling up.

Arnie Roth is an American Grammy Award-winning conductor, composer, and record producer, best known for conducting numerous concerts for video game music. He is also a classically trained violinist and a member of the Grammy Award-winning music group Mannheim Steamroller. Roth is also the principal conductor and music director of the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, Play! A Video Game Symphony, and several Final Fantasy concerts including Distant Worlds and Final Fantasy A New World.

If you are a gamer, you realize the power of video games to inspire, excite, and even teach life lessons. This special episode is dedicated to all the gamers who realize the amazing potential for good within one of our favorite hobbies.

Featuring some of the best thoughts of influential experts from my interviews over the past year, this episode is packed with thought provoking commentary on life lessons from video games.

I want you to imagine the following: You are in Fallout Shelter #139 and you will never make it out.There is a 9 year old who is also in the shelter with you who will be put into cryostasis, and they will survive to live as an adult in a world where almost everything is the same as it is today (as opposed to the post-apocalyptic wasteland found in Fallout 4, …

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